An Appraisal of Hard Power in Contemporary Practice of Diplomacy

While power is an ever-present part of international relations; state’s success in achieving its interest in the anarchical and self-help international system is a function of the available power in her possession. Before now, states are regarded as the sole most significant actors in international system, and brute force otherwise known as hard power – where military might is used to achieve a particular objective – rules the day, the situation has changed. The end of cold war in the 1990s saw many changes in international system where globalization is rapidly bringing states closer than ever before which resulted in interdependence on each other. Therefore, the use of hard power in diplomatic practice has to be scrutinized to determine its efficacy. The purpose of the study was to analyze the effectiveness and or the utility of hard power in the conduct of diplomacy in contemporary international relations. The study was hinged on the theory of Complex Interdependence. To guide the study, three research questions were raised. Content analysis was the method adopted where secondary data from research findings, articles in journals, textbooks etc. were consulted and mixed with the writer’s observation in drawing conclusions. The study revealed that globalization today has increased the interdependence of nations in so many ways such that applying hard power by one state, comes with lots of consequences. Evidence is seen in United States’ (U.S.) usage of hard power in Iraq, Kosovo, Somalia and Libya and how it negatively affected its other interests in the international system. The study concluded that soft power, though regarded as the newest and alternative form of power to be used in international relations, is also limited in its effectiveness. To balance the inadequacies of hard and soft powers, smart power is recommended where components of hard and soft powers are combined